Blog Archives
In My Mailbox (52)
In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren where we get to share the books we received over the week for review, purchase, loan or trade.
Over the past two weeks I received:
Purchased:
Fever by Lauren DeStefano – currently reading
Pandemonium and Hana by Lauren Oliver – Ahhh! Finally.
For Review:
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers – I’m expecting good things from this one.
Netgalley:
The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Córdova – Merpeople! Sounds awesome.
Library Audiobooks: I picked up a bunch of audiobooks to try out. Didn’t check audio reviews yet but hopefully these will be great.
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Finnikin of The Rock by Melina Marchetta
Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen
A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
Cloaked by Alex Flinn
Don’t Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala (e-book)
What did you receive in your mailbox this week?
In My Mailbox (51)
In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren.
This week I received:
Purchased:
The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen – This book looks very cute.
For Review:
Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare – audiobook (from Simon & Schuster Audio) – A very happy surprise! Now I have to read Clockwork Angel, stat!
The Savage Grace by Bree Despain – ARC (from Random House) – Another nice surprise! This is book 3 in The Dark Divine trilogy and I’m listening to book 2 now.
Blood Born by Jamie Manning – ARC (from Pendrell publishing) – For an upcoming blog tour.
Zero by Tom Leveen – ARC (from Random House) – Reading for Random Buzzers.
Netgalley:
Wonder by R.J. Palacio – Read about this in Entertainment Weekly and was excited to see it on NetGalley.
From the library:
Everneath by Brodi Ashton – Have been wanting to check out this book for ages.
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare – Have to give this a listen before CP.
What did you receive in your mailbox this week?
In My Mailbox (50)
In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren.
This week I received:
Awesome Netgalley titles:
The Weepers: The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker – Zombies, Dystopia, Romance, Los Angeles!
Monument 14 by Emmy Labourne – A survival type book with 14 kids trapped in a Walmart-ish store.
Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo – The early reviews make this fantasy sound pretty great.
Before You Go by James Preller – An emotional realistic fiction with a male protagonist concerning life and death.
Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama – Mermaids! The synopsis sounds really good.
Struck by Jennifer Bosworth – This was a WoW pick of mine back in Sept. Excited to see it on NG!
The Raft by S.A. Bodeen – A survival book – the premise kind of reminds me of LOST.
Of Poseidon by Anna Banks – Have heard good things about this mermaid centered book. May have to prioritize reading this one!
From the library:
Falling in Love with English Boys by Melissa Jensen – Have pre-ordered The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by this author and wanted to check out her other book.
A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley – Loved Graffiti Moon by this author and since I also enjoy music themed books I had to pick this up.
I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert – Another music type book that caught my eye.
Irises by Francisco X. Stork – Two sisters have to take care of themselves and their mother after their father dies.
What did you receive in your mailbox this week?
NetGalley Month & January Reading Goals
I’m an impulse reader generally and read what I feel like, without making a formal schedule. However, with all of the awesome new releases / audiobooks / library books, etc. competing for my attention this month, I thought a small amount of planning would be in order. And, NetGalley month comes at a perfect time to motivate me to pick up my kindle and read some of these great titles.
So, I think I can commit to 1 NetGalley book per week for January, and try to read 10 books in total.
NetGalley Books:
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- Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
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- Cinder by Marissa Meyer
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- Life Eternal by Yvonne Woon
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- The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe
I also have a couple of audiobooks to listen to:
A Million Suns by Beth Revis
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
And hope to get to some of these:
Getting Somewhere by Beth Neff
Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
To join in on the fun of NetGalley January, you can sign up with Emily at Red House Books. And use hashtag #NetGalleyMonth to tweet about your NetGalley reads.
In My Mailbox (40)
In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren & inspired by Pop Culture Junkie. It is a way to feature the books you purchased, traded, borrowed or received for review each week.
This week I received:
Library:
Scored by Lauren McLaughlin – YA dystopian where all kids are given a score that determines their future success.
Bought:
The Seeds of Wither by Lauren DeStefano (kindle ebook sampler $1.99) – Includes an exclusive short story about Linden’s first wife Rose, the first 100 pages of Wither, and 1 chapter of Fever. I was disappointed in how short the Fever teaser is and I thought the short story would be a little more substantial. The short story is interesting to read while you wait for Fever‘s release but overall not a great value.
For Review:
Partials by Dan Wells – This was a recent WoW pick of mine so I was excited to receive this one. It’s the first book in a new post-apocalyptic series. (HarperCollins)
E-Books for Review:
11/22/63 by Stephen King – Sounds really interesting with the historical and time travel elements. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a King book and I’m a little intimidated by the page count but it looks great. (Klout perk/Simon & Schuster)
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout – I was waiting for my daughter at the dentist and saw this book go up on NetGalley. Got my request in and approved in record time. Have been seeing some good reviews popping up and I’m eager to read it! Haven’t read too many books about aliens yet. (NetGalley/Entangled)
The Gathering Storm: The Katerina Trilogy Vol. 1 by Robin Bridges – This is on my debut author challenge list and it sounds like an intriguing paranormal historical. (NetGalley/Delacorte Books)
What did you get in your mailbox this week?
In My Mailbox (39)
In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren & inspired by Pop Culture Junkie. It is a way to feature the books you purchased, traded, borrowed or received for review each week.
This week I received:
Audiobooks For Review: (links to Audible)
Crossed by Ally Condie – Audiobook (Penguin)
Here There Be Monsters by Meljean Brook – Audiobook (Penguin)
Netgalley E-Books for Review:
Pure by Julianna Baggott
Bought:
Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park – Paperback edition. I have already read and loved this book. My daughter is reading it a second time for a book report.
The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa – Paperback edition to complete my Iron Fey collection.
What did you get in your mailbox this week?
Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver
Book: Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver, Illustrated by Kei Acedera, HarperCollins, October 4, 2011
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Format/pages: eGalley provided by NetGalley, available in Hardcover (307 pages)
Rating: 5 / 5 Stars
More Reviews: Goodreads
Liesl & Po is Lauren Oliver’s charming middle-grade debut. I have greatly loved this author’s YA books, and though each book is vastly different, her wonderful storytelling is consistent. Ms. Oliver always manages to surprise and impress me with the emotional depth of her characters. Liesl & Po is no different and I enjoyed the dark, magical ghost story feel to it and all the whimsical characters. This deeply personal story is inspired by the death of the author’s best friend, and is something that haunted the pages as I read the book. I think many will be able to relate to the subject matter, and will enjoy the fantasy elements involved as well. To use Liesl’s favorite word, I enjoyed the story ineffably much.
Like a fairy tale, the story begins with Liesl, a young girl who has been locked in an attic by her evil stepmother. Her father has recently died, and now she’s on her own, drawing pictures in the attic. One night a ghost named Po and his ghostly pet Bundle pop in and she asks for Po’s help to find her father on the Other Side. Meanwhile, a young alchemist’s apprentice named Will is sent on an errand to deliver a powerful box of magic, but mistakenly delivers the wrong box. This mix up sets off a sequence of events that brings the story full circle for this eccentric group of characters, and they must go on a journey to make things right.
The story takes place in a bleak, undetermined place where food and money are scarce. The mood is dark, and the setting is literally dark, as the sun hasn’t shone for years. But there is a ray of hope in the characters as they work together to help each other along the way. Liesl is courageous, determined and hopeful, even though she has suffered so much in her young life. Po is a ghost of few words, and is someone who needs Liesl as much as she needs him. The ghostly cat/dog Bundle is adorable too and always there to chime in with a “Mwark”. And young Will is sweet in his obvious affection for Liesl. There are many lighthearted moments between the characters that keep the story from ever being too heavy.
The story is magical and endearing, and the fantasy elements make it easy to imagine it as a movie. Though the subject matter is dark, the touching alliance of the characters brings a ray of hope. The illustrations by Kei Acedara are gorgeous and complement the story perfectly. Recommended for fans of Lauren Oliver’s writing and those that enjoy middle grade and fantasy books. An enchanting read.
